Lubomirskia baicalensis

Lubomirskia baikalensis (class Demospongiae, order Haplosclerida and family Lubomirskiidae) has a branched shape and an encrusting base with erect (30–60 cm, up to 1 m high) dichotomous branches and rounded apices. Live specimens are a brilliant shade of green. The ectosomal skeleton consists of spicule tufts from the primary fibres. The skeleton consists of uniformly-spined megasclere oxeas (145–233 x 9–18 μm); microscleres are absent (Manconi and Pronzato 2002).

Manconi R, Pronzato R (2002) Suborder Spongillina subord. nov.: Freshwater Sponges. In: Hooper JNA, Van Soest RWM (eds), Systema Porifera: A Guide to the Classification of Sponges. New York, Kluwer Academic /Plenum Publishers 1: 921-1020.

(From Chernogor et al. 2011)

A description of the morphology and growth of the Lake Baical demosponge, Lubomirskia baicalensis, with MRI images of the spicule formation.